St. John Plessington

  Posted on August 24, 2024  by admin  No comments

Born: c.1637 at Dimples Hall, Lancashire, England

Died: hanged, drawn, and quartered on 19 July 1679 at Barrows Hill, Boughton, England, buried in the local cemetery of Burton, England

Canonized: 25 October 1970 by Pope Paul VI.

Also known as John Plesington, William Scarisbrick, William Pleasington

Additional Memorial 25 October as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales

Son of Robert Plessington, a royalist Catholic, and Alice Rawstone. His family was persecuted for both their religious and political beliefs. John was educated by Jesuits at Scarisbrick Hall, then at the Royal College of Saint Alban at Valladolid, Spain, and then Saint Omer’s monastery in France. Ordained in Segovia, Spain on 25 March 1662. He returned to England in 1663 to minister to covert Catholics in the areas of Holywell and Cheshire, often hiding under the name William Scarisbrick. Tutor at Puddington Hall near Chester, England. Imprisoned for two months, and executed for the crime of priesthood. Martyr.